The Legend Of The Wendigo

Home and Hollow

The fog surrounded my home, edging into the forest and winding through the trees, and visibility was low. The air was hung with mystery and silence, and the trees stood above me like giants and they seemed to creep closer and closer to my home. I did not want to go outside, even if it was my favorite weather (irony). The trees creaked and groaned as the wind blew at them again and again. But I needed some firewood. My home was very cold and my dog, Diablo, was also cold. But I still did not want to go out. It was an instinct, I imagined. Because when I looked through my window at the fog-covered forest I could not see if anything was there, hunting me. Usually, these woods were lovely and had the air of adventure and exploration, but now that my partner is gone and the fog still stays, it feels something else than home. It feels suffocating. I make up my mind, I will go outside. After all, the firewood was just outside my house. I was just scaring myself. I put on a coat and opened my door to the misty, eerie quiet. A Raven called through the silence, startling me. I reprimanded my paranoid self, "it's just a goddamn crow, nothing to worry about. Get a hold of yourself, Idiot!" Diablo had also had went outside and was now winding around my legs and whining. very unlike him. He usually was fierce and thick-headed, the first one to fight, never flight. But when I caught something skulking, a movement in the shadows out of the corner of my eye I knew that something was up, something bad. "What the hell was that?" I said to myself, still looking around me.  As I gathered firewood I whispered, "it's all in your head, it's all in your head, it's all in your head. " it was starting to help, but then a stick cracked. It sent an echo through the silent forest like a gunshot, several crows that had been resting in a nearby pine had fled to the sky, cawing fiercely. This was way too creepy for me. As soon as I had gotten enough firewood to last me around four days (I'm paranoid like that) I locked up the house. closed the curtains, locked the windows, double-locked the doors, and turned on the lights while making a warm fire. "SHIT!" I slapped my forehead, I had just remembered that I needed to get some food from the store! I went outside but then remembered, do I want to leave Diablo alone in this creepy place? (I was also worried that he might find human food and dig in while I was gone.) I took Diablo and locked the front door. Tight. We bundled into the Grand Wagoneer, my car. ( yeah, yeah. I have an old car, don't judge me.) I started the engine and we were off to the store. A day later, I  felt safer and was about to relax, when at the door there was a knock. Another. Another. I went over and looked through the peephole in the door, expecting a neighbor complaining about Diablo barking and annoying their reading or something. It was my partner, Autumn Cove. She looked different though, more emaciated, weaker. I let her in any way, she was my partner after all. "So, Your back already?" I said sarcastically. She said nothing. Then, she entered with something I did not recognize, something else than her usual fluid grace. When she moved, there was the sound of the cracking of bones, like she was stretching, and she sort of limped. "Are you okay?..." I asked, tentatively. As soon as she entered she asked me in something other than her voice, "Where do you keep your food?". This was unexpected. She knew where my food was, and she barely have her regular, hearty accent. Her voice was crackly, husky, and dry. She completely avoided my dog and my dog completely avoided her. That was way too weird. They both glared at one another, and Diablo snarled. This was getting too unusual. They were mostly best friends and got along wonderfully, but now? Mortal enemies. I did not notice this at first, but I did eventually when my car, phone, and all my food, went missing.